Strategic Initiatives

NIEM evolves with community needs and technology trends. We are pursuing several Strategic Initiatives to simply use, embrace emerging technology, and welcome new communities.

Flexible formats

We recognize that organizations may have requirements to create exchanges in formats other than the original XML representation. This is why NIEM is focusing on developing profiles and guidance that help users build exchanges in formats that work best for them. Contact us if you have data format needs that aren't currently being met by NIEM's current tools environment.

NIEM-UML

NIEM has developed a Unified Modeling Language (UML) Profile, which is based on the Object Management Group’s international Model Driven Architecture standards. When implemented with a tool, NIEM-UML can make the mapping process easier and faster, providing a visual representation that is understandable to both technical and business users. Visit the NIEM-UML page to learn more about it, who uses it, and how to leverage it.

JSON with NIEM

Many organizations now use JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) instead of XML for their data-interchange format when adapting to new reporting requirements or open data needs, creating mobile exchanges, or simply for ease of use. Visit the NIEM JSON page to learn more about NIEM's approach for supporting the use of JSON with NIEM.

Going global

NIEM may have started in the U.S., but its reach doesn’t stop there. International governments and private sector organizations can maximize the value of NIEM, too. Communities in Europe, North America, and Australia already use NIEM for their information exchange efforts. NIEM 4.0 represents an initial step toward evolving NIEM to support a more global exchange environment. As part of the 4.0 development process, a dedicated team collaborated with several strategic international partners to identify information that should be added or updated within both NIEM Core and individual domains to meet their business needs.

Updates to NIEM Core include but not limited to:

The addition of content around public service, crisis, and financial account information

Updates of “Place” to expand terminology relating to addresses, regions, and borders

Information related to privacy of personal data under the terms of more stringent European data protection laws

Mapping international requirements like name information and Tax Identification Number to “Person”

Future releases of NIEM will continue progress toward internationalization and will tackle such topics as identifying US-centric definitions that could be replaced with more holistic definitions.